INSIDE
By Stephen Metzger
Managing Director
Small Vehicle Resource, LLC
[email protected]
www.smallvehicleresource.com
THE GATED
COMMUNITY
What Does the Hype, “Automotive
Features” Really Mean? Takeaways
from the 2019 PGA Show
T
he two major takeaways from the
2019 PGA Show are:
• The on-going development of feature-rich
personal transportation vehicles—particu-
larly automotive-type features—suited to
individual consumer tastes;
• The mainstreaming of lithium power and
what it means for current and future prod-
uct development.
The PTV shopping experience today
If you’ve been recently shopping for a per-
sonal transportation vehicle (PTV), the sales
person has mostly likely been hyping au-
tomotive features. He or she will point out
certain optional accessories, such as LED
light package, flared fender attachments, a
lift kit, a brush guard, a custom front cowl,
and perhaps the “gotta have” audio system.
If you are interested in a low-speed vehicle
(LSV)-qualified vehicle, to the above will be
added an automotive-grade windshield,
DOT Street Legal 205-50-10 radial tires,
turn signals, seat belts, and the most recent
regulatory requirement, a back-up camera
and monitor. While the safety features of
an LSV add to the cost of the vehicle, they
bring the vehicle up to the level of safer
driving on public access streets (speed lim-
its at 35 m.p.h. or less), and, for that matter,
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WWW.GOLFCAROPTIONS.COM
on the by-ways of a golf car-dominant gated community.
(If you have ever been to the golf car-crowded streets and
parking lots of The Villages in Florida, you will understand
why an LSV-qualified vehicle is not such a bad idea.)
PTVs become a priority for golf car manufacturers
Long-entrenched in the fleet golf car business, the three
dominant suppliers of golf car-type vehicles are now
focusing on the non-golf market, consisting of PTVs and
utility vehicles. Sales and marketing, along with product
development are organizationally split out between the
two segments to implement this recent shift in strategy.
There are several implications to these changes in the
industry:
• Much greater variety in features;
• More competition with new companies getting into the
market;
• Continued focus on giving the golf car-type vehicle an
on-road automotive feel.
Greater variety in features
The build your own movement has come to the small,
golf-car-type vehicle. In particular, you see it at the Club
Car and Yamaha websites where individual accessories
and features can be ordered, simply by clicking on them.
After you have completed your wish list, you see exactly
how much it will cost you. In the case of the Club Car
Onward® you start with either non-lifted or lifted versions
which come off the assembly line and go from there. Af-